This week has been a very mixed bag, which I guess is good when you are travelling, and the challenges of travelling alone have become more obvious to me. This is by no means a bad thing, it is important for me to get used to going solo and i was prepared that the beginning of the trip was going to test me.
One day which I was challenged was the day after my last blog post in Surfers Paradise. I woke up without really knowing anyone in my room and went downstairs in the hostel for some breakfast and to attempt to plan Thailand, which I have decided will be the next part of my trip. I spent the rest of the day looking around town and sunbathing in the hostel. It was challenging because it was a day that I really realised I was alone but I must admit it was quite nice to be able to relax and not have to worry about anyone else.
On the 7th I caught an early coach to Brisbane and after having some toasted banana bread (my favourite australian dish). I headed to my hostel which was located in the centre of the city. Well actually, it was more like a ghost town when I arrived, much like the cities in New Zealand, it seemed to be too big for amount of people who were there. I decided to visit the town and went for a walk around the main shopping area where i stopped to watch some live music for a while. I then crossed to the Southbank, which could have easily been the Southbank in London, with its large grey concrete theatre building and giant ferris wheel. Here, I had a look around the museum, which featured an especially interesting exhibition about aboriginal history and culture.
That evening Ali arrived from Byron Bay and, after a loud aussie voice echoed through the halls of the hostel on the rusty old tanoys offering free drinks for woman, we decided to visit the bar under the hostel, the aptly named Down Under bar. We ordered our gin and tonics and sat admiring the incredible aray of dance moves being performed on the dance floor, getting stranger and stranger as the night went on. It really was phenomenal. After a couple more drinks we decided to hit the hay as we had a nig day ahead of us.
This 'big day' was Australia Zoo day! We had decided to get the 11am train but when we went to buy our tickets the trian line employee behind the plastic window told us that we were travelling a bit late to see the zoo and that we would have missed all the good feedings etc by the time we there. This of course was devastating to hear, but we had no choice but to go because we couldn't go any other day. We got on the slowest train I have ever experienced but seemed to make it to the zoo way before the ticket man said we would. Once inside we were relieved to find there were loads of things to see. First of all was the koala introduction, which was a zookeeper telling us fact about koalas and then a chance to stroke of the older koalas, which was extremely exciting for me and Ali who had fallen in love with the animals already.
Next up was the crocodile feeding, where a man risked his life to give this 7 metre croc a snack. Whilst doing so he was sharing important information about how not to get eaten by a crocodile in Northern Australia, which really brought home how wild and dangerous this country can be. I also was amazed to find out that crocodiles can live for a year without eating and have not really evolved for 64million years!
We then decided to go and feed the kangaroos who were in an open enclosure which you could walk through. These kangas were so used to having humans around that they were all lying around but I did manage to catch a couple of them bouncing around. As well as all of this we also had time to see snakes, giraffes, rhinos, tigers, dingos, Tasmanian devils and turtles. I challenge you to go to a zoo and not become a child again, it was all so exciting!
The next day started ff much less exciting with a trip to the pharmacy to buy some earplugs after a boy in my dorm room had kept me awake during the night with his snoring. I caught the afternoon coach to Noosa and was picked up by a minibus which took me to my hostel. The hostel was fully booked so I ended up sharing a double room with a German girl named Anna. So many travellers here and either German, English or Swedish! I met two other German girls while I was making dinner and spoke to them for a couple of hours about our trips etc. I told them that I was a bit worried about the bush camp I had booked myself onto the next day because I had been reading the reviews and it looked pretty bad. I decided that I would still go and see for myself and went to bed thinking about all the terrible things that the bush camp could hold.
The next morning I was picked up from Noosa coach station by a very friendly, enthusiastic Australian called Alan, the man who ran the bush camp. I soon found out that my whole minibus was full of British people including Ashleigh, Abby, Alex, Joe, James, Scott, another James, Zoey and Josh and from one German girl called Sophie, which was reassuring and we got on straight away. After visiting a supermarket and off licence we drove to the camp away from the beach and into the woods. The camp was basic but functional with a fully working kitchen, TV room with hundreds of films, dorms, a games room and a fire with giant logs around it to sit on.
We played beach ball, which I was awful at and then it started to rain heavily for about 10 minutes. After making dinner (I bbq-ed some salmon that I had bought in a panic at the supermarket and for which I got rightly taunted about around the fire) we decided to have some drinks. We sat round the fire for a while with the other people who had arrived before us and stayed up pretty late talking and drinking even though we all knew, in the back of our minds, that we would have to wake up early to go on our canoe trip at 8:30am the next day.
The next morning was a bit of a struggle but I managed to get out of the bunk bed, have my breakfast, make a a sandwich and make it to the canoes on time along with the rest of my bleary eyed group. I was in a canoe with a German called Mark and an Italian called Andrea and, mostly due to them I must admit, we made a pretty efficient rowing team. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the rope swing that Alan had directed us to. We canoed through the Noosa Everglades which is pure Australian nature, dry nearly bare trees and plant life I did not recognise and strange birds and widelife making up the soundtrack of our trip. At the rope swing I was dying to get into the water so I swam in the river with most of the group. Some people decided to brave the dangerous looking rope swing but just floating in the river was enough for me. After lunch some of us decided to go and explore the surrounding area a bit more and so went for a walk through the landscape which was so different to any landscape I have been in before, dry cracked earth, long grass and dead-looking trees, which actually turned out to look quite beautiful (my camera had no battery for the trip so unfortunately I have no photos to go with my description).
Our journey back from the rope swing was less fun as we were rowing against the tide amd the wind. It seemed to take much longer than the way there but in reality it took only half and hour longer. I showered in the surprisingly bice showers and watched a couple of films in the TV room before dinner and a bit more drinking. We met the new group of people who had arrived that day which was nice because every one seemed to be there to have a good time and really friendly. Another late night ensued and the surrounding woods were so loud with the bird calls and whi knows what other animals that it was difficult to sleep so the next morning I did not feel rested at all. I talked to a few of the girls also staying there while I ate breakfast and then watched a movie before it was time to get the minibus back to Noosa. I felt absolutely shattered so when I returned to my hostel and I fell straight into bed for a nap. I woke up to make a really disappointing dinner and spoke with a few people in my room but then slept again for the first full nights sleep I had had in ages.
In the morning I travelled to the beach and met up with Ali again as we are doing pretty much the same route and nearly the same time. We walked along the coast admiring the skilled surfers and the gorgeous landscape then looped back through the woodland.
At one point we nearly jumped out of our skin when a huge water dragon rustled a bush next to us as ran up a tree. We arrived back and had some fish and chips in a restuarant on the beach, which has to be one of my favourite beaches so far. There was so many surfers everywhere and at one point a group of 12 year old came and made me feel very inadequate when they showed off their surfing skills.
In the afternoon I said goodbye to Ali (although I would be seeing her the next day) and caught my coach to Rainbow Beach. On the coach I met up with Mark and Andrea again by chance and it was nice to have someone I knew for the journey.
I arrived in the evening to my hostel, which seems really nice. Once again unpacking my bag and preparing myself for whats to come which is my 3 day trip to Fraser Island, riding along in a 4X4 and seeing what the island has to offer! All the people I have spoken to about this trip have said it is a definite highlight so I am really looking forward to it!
Even though this week has highlighted some of the challenges of going it alone and I really enjoying my time in Aus and have so much more to look forward to! I mean, I am in paradise, so can hardly complain!
Thanks for reading x
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